


Only Me, Only You

by frozenCinders



Category: Bx: Execute (OFF Fangame)
Genre: Alcohol, CSRverse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:14:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25963450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frozenCinders/pseuds/frozenCinders
Summary: Today is nothing but surprises.
Relationships: Lepi/Borbo | Lenore Thaddeus
Comments: 7
Kudos: 5





	Only Me, Only You

Today is nothing but surprises.

For starters, he didn't wake up with back pain. A minor surprise, and a pleasant one. It sets a good mood for the day, he thinks. That's the first surprise.

He abandons his usual routine today to adhere to another-- one he's adopted much more recently. It's only about five or six days out of the month that he does this, but a new favorite hobby of his is pestering the current Harbinger of Life. He despises Lenny, claims he disrespects his "very being" and "everything he stands for".

He's right, of course. It's just funny how angry he gets about it. Every time he goes off on one of his little tirades at Lenny, he just sounds like he's demanding respect for _everything that breathes_ moreso than himself. Quite a lofty dream, there, Life.

Getting into Lepi's file is easy, of course. Not pleasant, due to how he keeps it, but easy. Finding him is a little harder, especially since he always seems to just _know_ when Lenny is around. That might have something to do with the scattered eyes that follow him in the quiet of the landscape, the flesh that wrinkles when he nears. His whole file is likely an extension of himself.

Rather than hide, however, Lepi appears before him within ten minutes. Even more astonishing, he doesn't have a sour look on his face! No, not even a bitter one. That's the second surprise.

"You keep coming here," Lepi deadpans, his too-clear voice as uncanny as always. It confuses Lenny's ears, even though it's bypassing them completely.

"Yes, well, I keep finding you here," Lenny says. "If you want me to stay out of your file, perhaps you'd better take a walk outside of it."

"And where, pray tell, would I go?"

"Why, out for drinks with yours truly! There's a wonderful option right there. Aren't you glad I'm here to suggest it for you?"

He jests, making sure his expression is cheery and his voice is annoying, higher pitched than is natural for him. Lepi is normally ruffled by such behavior, offended by the apparent assumption that he would want to "hang out". But he just stares for a moment, unbothered, and then he closes his eyes for a few long seconds.

When he opens them again, they're a little softer.

"If I go with you, will you promise not to come back here?" he asks-- exasperated, but not enraged. His tone and his agreement combine into the third surprise.

"Hmm... Let's make a deal," Lenny says. "If you can drink me under the table, I'll never come back to your file ever again."

"... Never?"

"Never ever! That's a promise from me to you, dear Life."

Lepi narrows his eyes at the name, finally showing some annoyance on his face.

"Alright. What exactly does drinking you under the table entail? I know you're going to try to slip out of this with some kind of technicality."

"Do you think I'm a genie?"

"No, I think you like to fuck people over."

Lenny laughs.

"Here's what it entails: I tend to space out and pause a lot when I'm drunk. Totally out of my control. If I start doing that before you're completely smashed, you win."

Lepi thinks about it, but not for very long.

"Fine. Where are we going?"

Somehow, despite the fact that he'd already partially agreed earlier, Lenny manages to be surprised again. He'll count that as the fourth.

Lenny takes Lepi to a particular favorite file of his; one that he'd discovered completely by accident while trying to get to a different one. It's a futuristic sort of file, with dizzying neon lights lining the streets and buildings, and fashion that looks so alien it's silly. The bar in town is completely modern, but considered very old fashioned for these inhabitants' standards.

Lenny considers holding back with his order, just to last a little longer, but the bartender recognizes him and holds up a bottle of his favorite brandy and Lenny just can't resist. He orders the entire bottle and a glass is poured for him. Beside him, Lepi has a gin and tonic.

"You have more pedestrian tastes than I expected," he prods.

"Pedestrian how? Because I'm not taste-testing wine with you?"

"You should! I could share with you--"

"No."

"Suit yourself, then. At least you went with a higher proof than I expected."

"Well, yes. It's almost a match for yours. That's why I ordered it."

"And what would you normally order? Some sweet, fruity cocktails? Wanna share one of those?" he teases, his annoying voice back on.

"Why the _hell_ would I want to share a cocktail with you?"

"We can get two silly straws that make a heart shape!"

"You disgust me."

"A spade, then!"

"Drink your wine, fiend."

Lepi takes a sip from his own drink, a rare mouth present on his face just for the occasion. Out of context, he looks like a normal person. It's unsettling.

"Hey, Life?"

Lepi looks at him, unimpressed. That changes with the widening of his eyes as Lenny removes his helmet-- how else would he drink, after all? He coughs twice as soon as he sets it on the bar, somewhat ruining the reveal. He does wear it for a reason, after all.

"... Somehow, this didn't occur to me," Lepi admits.

"I thought as much. For all your self esteem, you're not very bright, are you?"

He doesn't really mean it, even if Lepi can be frustrating and difficult. Hurling insults at each other comes naturally to them, especially from Lepi's side. It's only fair that Lenny reciprocates.

He doesn't react the way he usually does, though. He gives a slight, delayed clench of the jaw and a mild roll of the eyes as an excuse to look away. Not a word.

"What made you decide to come out with me today?" Lenny asks. He can tell for sure now that Lepi is out of sorts.

"Why does anything have to "make me" do this? Why keep sending you away, knowing you'll just come right back? I had to try something different."

"Sounds like an excuse to me. Trying something different in this case is just outright giving me what I want, after all."

"Yes, but at what cost? When you get drunk first, I'll never see you in my domain again."

He takes a longer drink this time.

"Never again," he repeats.

Lenny decides to match his pace exactly and downs almost half of his smaller glass, estimating it to be about the same amount of liquid Lepi has drank so far.

"Then what? Won't you miss me?" Lenny teases, leaning over into Lepi's shoulder and pushing him. Lepi shoves him upright and downs the entire rest of his glass at once.

"Drink your fucking wine," he says. He won't look at him.

Lenny finishes his drink and pours himself another glass, taking an extra sip right away.

"Eugh. It doesn't taste as good when you rush it," he complains mildly, squinting down into his glass.

"Good."

Lenny pouts at Lepi, but he doesn't look to see it.

It occurs to him that he doesn't know what Lepi is like when he's buzzed, much less completely hammered. He should loosen up, as is typical, but he just seems to get more tense the more he drinks. He's taken to leaning on the bar maybe forty minutes in, supporting his forehead with his thumb and index finger, the latter curling against it as his eyes squeeze closed. His lips twitch, maybe in aggravation.

The sigh he releases is much too shaky, too weak to be angry.

"Hey," Lenny says. Lepi doesn't react in any way.

He snaps his fingers and Lepi turns slowly to look at him. His eyes are glossed over and a lot wetter than Lenny seems to recall.

When Lepi moves, Lenny thinks at first that he's going to attack him. Instead, his arms slink around his neck, hugging him right there in the bar, in front of all sorts of strangers. He brings his head closer slowly until his forehead rests against Lenny's collarbone. Lenny can feel the heat of his face through his shirt.

"It's hard," he whispers in a drawl.

"What is?"

"It's hard being all alone."

"I know," Lenny says. "I know."

For how calm he sounds, he's stunned. Lepi's hands, linked by one around the wrist of the other, begin slowly coming apart from their place on the back of Lenny's neck. His left arm remains slung over Lenny's shoulder, but when his right hand falls, Lenny catches it in his own. He brings it close and stares, bewildered by his own reaction just then. Today's last surprise.

Lepi has fallen asleep. In the back of his mind, a little voice tells him that this is a victory, that he's won their insignificant game. The nonexistent sound of it is bitter in his mouth.

He pays off their tab and leaves with the nearly empty bottle of brandy in one hand and the other holding Lepi's waist. Unconscious, he clings to Lenny, his heated skin seeking comfort in unnaturally cold flesh. He plans to drop him off as soon as he enters his file and be done with it. He does not. Instead, he searches and searches for Lepi's home, dragging him along the entire time and listening carefully to his wordless murmurs.

Eventually, he comes across what might be it. Lepi has never invited him over, after all, but he doubts such a huge house that even appears recently lived in would belong to one of the inhabitants that had hidden themselves away long ago. It is sparsely decorated, and much too large for just one person. Lonely.

The first surface Lenny finds is a couch, and he immediately drapes Lepi across it and sits heavily at the end of it. His elbows on his knees, he lets the bottle roll across the floor, shockingly unscathed, as he nurses the headache at his temples. He forgot his damn helmet at the bar.

He leans back and lets his eyes close, the pauses between his thoughts becoming greater the longer he stays awake. He knows he'll fall asleep like this, but Lepi can hardly kick him out after he just lost their game.

Lenny knows now that he doesn't want to, anyway.


End file.
